My brother and co-worker Johnny lives in Vancouver and has a phone in the 778 area code. About 50% of the time when I try and dial his number, I get a message on the line saying “We’re sorry, but you must dial 1 or 0…”. Presumably this is because the 778 area code isn’t programmed into some switch or another as a valid area code.

Last month I emailed Island Tel about this and they instructed me to phone repair as soon as I noticed the problem again.

I just tried to call Johnny, and so I went to Island Tel’s website to find the number for repair. On this page it lists the repair number as 1-800-565-1570. When I dial this number, I get a recording telling me the number is out of service. This is not a Good Sign.

So I call the main inquiries number, 1-800-565-4737, and select the option to be connected to repair. I waited on hold on this line for 8 minutes and 39 seconds (thus making it difficult to follow the instructions here to “call us promptly”). The friendly person who eventually answered the call told me that she’d put in a repair call on the issue, and that I’d hear from one of the “testers.” Stay tuned.